When I posted our last Latest News edition, it was July. I said summer is going to be over before we know it and I couldn’t believe it was already July! Well, the rest of summer flew by as well as the fall and now it’s winter. We hope you had a great year of riding and enjoying your horses.

Our Fall Riding Adventure

Some of you may have noticed, we cut down our clinic schedule a bit this past year. We dedicated that free time to preparing our horses for a horse vacation we had been talking about with our friend Larry Killam (from Horse Gate Ministry) for the past five years or so. After many months of planning, learning and practicing with the three of us and five horses, we headed to the backcountry of Yellowstone National Park. Four seven days and six nights, we explored Yellowstone’s backcountry Thorofare Trail by horseback with our two pack horses in tow. It was truly the ultimate of what trail riding is all about – putting in the time with your horse to reach your goal and take in some of our country’s amazing beauty. After a wonderful time on this adventure, the only question now is where do we go next?

Clinics

Our Advanced Trail Riding Clinic at M Lazy C Ranch August 9-11 was a great weekend of trail riding! It’s so great to get everyone out on the trail where they can really put previous lessons to practical use! In addition, I added new lessons along the way and we worked side-by-side to allow riders to make the most progress with their horses. Riders worked on getting their horses comfortable in a group, communication in a group, trail etiquette, separation anxiety, water crossings and more. I’ve gotten a bit behind on things and am still working to get pictures on our Facebook page as well as our website. I will update once they’re posted.

We are currently working on setting our schedule for 2014 clinics. If you are interested in a particular clinic and/or want to host a clinic, please let us know! All you need to host a clinic is a safe riding arena and a gathering spot out of the weather for lunch and classroom lessons in case of rain.

Colorado Horse Council’s The Heritage Ride

What a great day on the trail at Greenland Open Space on September 28! I was honored to be invited to ride as one of two “Trail Boss Experts”. A great group and variety of riders came out to support the Colorado Horse Council and enjoy some great riding. Thanks to everyone who came! Mark your calendars for next year’s ride, tentatively scheduled for June 21.

Equestrian Skills Park

We continue to be successful so far in our pursuit of making this park a reality! We have our general layout, building estimates, maintenance estimates, a management plan, a fundraising plan and lists of potential donors. For more information, click on the Equestrian Skills Park tab, http://www.debbiebibb.com/index.php?page=equestrian-skills-park, or visit our page on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/FriendsOfTheEquestrianSkillsPark?ref=hl.

2014 Rocky Mountain Horse Expo

Mark your calendars for the Rocky Mountain Horse Expo March 7-9 at the National Western Stock Show in Denver. We will be back and are tentatively planning for our “Conquering Multi-Use Trails – Hikers, Bikers and Dogs, Oh My!” This will be part of their Ride with the Experts program and we are looking for three riders per session for this demonstration. We are also looking for 2-3 hikers/dog walkers, a mountain biker and a jogger to assist in our demonstration.

As always, we could also use a hand at our booth. If you’ve been to one of our clinics, we’d love to have you give us a hand. We will get you an expo pass and parking pass. Contact me for more information.

Stay tuned for more information coming soon – including information on the brand-new Equine Comeback Challenge at the Expo.